Motor mounting and drive means for power tools



y 1954 w. H- ODLUM ETAL MOTOR MOUNTING AND DRIVE MEANS FOR POWER TOOLS Filed Feb. 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TORS W. H. ODLUM ET AL May 11, 1954 MOTOR MOUNTING AND DRIVE MEANS FOR POWER TOOLS Filed Feb. 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 11,1954

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOTOR MOUNTING AND DRIVE MEANS FOR POWER TOOLS Illinois Application February 6, 1953, Serial No. 335,548

7 Claims. (01. 143-36) This invention relates to a motor mountin and drive means for power tools such as table saws and the like wherein the tool is adapted to be tilted relative to the table in addition to being provided with means for regulating the depth of the cut taken by the tool.

In the application, Serial No. 194,149, filed November 4, 1950 by Theophil A. Hess, and issued January 2'7, 1953 as Patent No. 2,626,639,

assigned to the same assignee as is this application, there is described and claimed a belt drive for a power tool having a tool the axis of rotation of which may be tilted relative to the axis of the drive motor as well as translated with respect thereto. The axis of the drive motor, however, is limited to a parallel translating movement without any provision for endwise movement. The tilting movement of the tool aXis is compensated for by providing a wide drive pulley on.

belt drive for a power tool or the like wherein the axis of rotation of' the driven tool may be tilted as well as translated, and wherein the drive pulley is a standard single-width pulley.

More specifically, the object of this invention is to provide a means for moving a drive motor o'fa' power tool endwise of itsaxis of rotation in unison'with the endwise component of movement of a tool driven by the motor when the axis of rotation of said tool is tilted with respect to the motor axis, to maintain the drive side of the pulleys on the tool and motor in substantial alignment.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a means for moving a drive motor of a power tool endwise of its-axis of rotation in unison with the endwise component of movement of the tool driven by the motor without in any way impairing the normal and expected functions and ad-- justments of the tool and without requiring a major re-design of a pOWer tool such as that described in the aforesaid patent.

These and other objects and features of our invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken together with theaccompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a side elevation, partly cut away; Of a table saw to which a preferred embodiment of this invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of a control for the saw of Fig. 1, taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation on a somewhat reduced scale of the motor mounting and drive for the table saw of Fig. 1, showing the saw in a vertical position;

Fig. 4 is an elevation similar to that of Fig. 3, showing the saw and associated drive mechanism when the saw is tilted With reference to its table; and

Fig. 5 is a kinematic diagram of the links used in the mounting and drive of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of the invention, and particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a supporting stand It! for the table saw to which is secured the frame ll of the table saw on which is mounted the table [2 for the work pieces to be cut. The usual guide or fence It and guard it are provided above table 12.

Below table i2 is a plate l5 having mounted thereon a bell crank it on one arm I! of which is mounted a shaft 18 for driving a circular saw 19 and on the other arm 2!! of which is pivotally secured an adjusting nut 2| operating upon the threaded end 22 of a shaft 23. Said shaft 23 is likewise mounted on plate It and extends to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, to terminate in a hand whee1 24 by which said shaft is rotated. Turning of bell crank it is effected by turning hand wheel 24, either clockwise or counter-clockwise, as the case may be, and the turning of bell crank l6 clockwise or counter-clockwise lowers or raises saw l9 with reference to table [2.

Plate I5 is supported from table I? through spaced guides 25, 25 having circular ways 26 (Fig. 3) the center of curvature of which is at C (Fig. 3). The movement of plate H": in ways 26 permits a tilting of saw [9 relative to table l2 to enable the operator to make angular cuts in the work piece. The tilting of saw it! obviously tilts shaft l8 also and displaces bell. crank it, shaft 23* and handle 24 along a circular arc. This arc is shown in Fig. 2 as a slot 21 in the front wall 28 of frame ll. Shaft 23 and its associated mechanisms may be clamped at any point along slot 2! by a wing nut 29, and the resulting angle of saw l9 with respect to table l2 may be read on scale 30.

Saw l9 and its shaft it are rotated by a pulley 31 which is connected by a belt 32 to a drive pulley 33 mounted directly on the shaft 34 of a motor 35. Said motor 35 is in turn mounted on a motor bracket 36 bolted to a hanger 37, the latter being pivotally supported at 38 from a pair of arms 353 formed on the end of a link 40 mounted on support It in a manner to be hereinafter described. The pivotal support 38 is disposed between and below the center of gravity of motor 35, bracket 36 and pulley 33 on the one hand, and pulley 3! on the other, so that the weight of the motor 35, bracket 36 and pulley 33 tends to keep belt 32 tight at all times.

The nove1 means for mounting link All on support It is shown more clearly in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. It is contemplated that motor 35 will not tilt with shaft l8 and hence the problem is to cause a lateral movement of drive pulley 33 in unison with the tilting of shaft 13 such that the drive sides of pulleys 3i and 33 are substantially aligned at all positions of shaft l8 and thus keep the belt on the pulleys. The means for accomplishin this movement. comprises a parallelogram linkage which is in turn linked to plate It so that the parallelogram linkage is collapsed or distended as the shaft i8 is tilted or brought back to the horizontal.

Specifically, link it constitutes the horizontally movable link of the parallelogram as viewed in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the other links comprising a fixed link 4! which may be fixed to or a part of support in, and two side links 42 and is each 50f said links being pivoted to its adjacent link as at 44, 45, 4G and 47?.

Side link 33 has an extension iil thereon to the free end of which is.

pivoted a connecting link it, said link it being pivotally connected at its other end 5d to an arm 5! secured to plate l5 and acting as an extension thereof.

7 The operation of the mounting for effecting movement of link Ml, i. e., for effecting movements of motor 35, is clearly shown in Fig. 5. It will be observed that as shaft i8 is tilted downwardly with respect to table l2, pulley 3i moves downwardly and has a lateral component of movement tothe left as viewed in Fig. 5. The tilting of shaft l8 and its support plate i5 exerts a force on connecting link 49 to the left as viewed in Fig. 5, Which force is transmitted to the end relative disposition is such that the lateral displacement of the drive side of pulley 33 substantially equals the lateral displacement of the drive side of pulley 3| on shaft is at all permissible tilted positions of said shaft it. This, of course, results in a continuous flow of power from pulley 33 to pulley 3i and obviates the use of special pulleys or adjusting mechanisms to accommodate the tilting of the saw it without a corresponding tilting of the motor 35 and its shaft (it.

Any change in the distance between pulleys SI and 33 occasioned by the tilting of the sawv or by raising or lowering the saw is automatically compensated for by the swinging of hanger 31 about its pivots 38 under the influence of the .weight of motor 35.

It is understood that although the invention herein has been described with reference to a power tool having a saw as the cutting element, other cutting, forming or finishing elements may be substituted for the saw without affecting the operation of the invention. Thus, a dado, a shaper head or a disc sander can be substituted for the saw [9.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of this invention and the scope of this invention therefore is not to be limited thereto, but is to be determined by the appended claims.

What iselaimed is:

l. A belt drive for power tools or the lure, said drive comprising a source of power, a pulley driven by the source of power, a rotatable tool, a pulley secured to rotate with the tool, a belt connecting said pulleys, means for tilting the axis of rotation of the tool and the pulley secured thereto through a predetermined arc, a parallelogram support for the pulley driven by the source of power, said support being movable in planes parallel to the axis of rotation of the pulley driven by said source of power, and link means connecting the parallelogram support to the tilting means for compelling movement of the parallelogram support in unison with the tilting means to maintain the drive sides of both said pulleys in substantial alignment in all tilted positions of the axis of rotation of the tool.

2. A belt drive for power tools or the like, said drive comprising a source of power, a pulley driven by the source of power, a rotatable tool, a pulley secured to rotate with the tool, a belt connecting said pulleys, a frame for the power tool, a support for the rotatable tool, means pivoting the support on the frame for swinging the tool in a plane transverse to the axis of the tool, a support for the source of power comprising a parallel motion linkage having one link fixed to the frame, a link opposite the fixed link and means for securing the link opposite the fixed link to the power source, the linkage being movable in a plane parallel with the axis of rotation of the pulley driven by the source of power, and a link connecting the parallel motion linkage to the pivoted support for the tool, jwhereby to compel movement of the pulleys in unison to maintain the drive sides of both said pulleys in substantial alignment in all tilted positions of the axis of rotation of the tool.

3. A belt drive, as described in claim 2, said parallel motion linkage having side links connecting the fixed link and the link opposite said iixedlink, and said link connecting the parallel motion linkage to the pivoted support for the 'tool comprisnig an extension on one of said "side links.

. 4. A belt drive as described in claim 2, a bracket for supportin the source of power, said means for securing the link opposite the fixed link to the power source comprising pivoted means con- ;nectingthe bracket to said link opposite the fixed link, the pivoted means being disposed between the center of gravity of the bracket and source'of power supported thereby on the one .hand and the axis of rotation of the rotatable tool .on the other. 7

5. 'A belt drive as described in claim 2, the length of the link connecting the parallel motion linkag to the pivoted support being selected .to cause substantially equal displacements of the ,pulleysin a direction parallel with the axis of the pulley driven by the power source.

6. In a table saw having a frame, a disc type saw, a table on the frame for supporting the workpiece, a tiltable support for the saw on the frame for swinging the saw relative to the plane of the table, a drive shaft for th saw mounted in the tiltable support, and a pulley secured to the haft, means for driving the pulley comprising a motor, a pulley driven by the motor, a belt connecting both said pulleys, means mounting the motor on the frame for endwise movement of the motor relative to the frame, and means connecting the motor mounting to the tiltable support to compel movement of the motor in unison with the tiltable support, whereby to maintain substantial alignment between the drive sides of the pulleys for all positions of the tiltable support, said connectin means between the motor mounting and the tiltable support comprising a parallel linkage mechanism having one link fixed to the frame, a link opposite the fixed link secured to the motor, side links, and means connecting one side link to the tiltable support.

7. In a table saw having a frame, a disc type saw, a table on the frame for supporting the workpiece, a tiltable support for the saw on the frame for swinging the saw relative to the plane of the table, a drive shaft for the saw mounted in the tiltable support, and a pulley secured to 6 the shaft, means for driving the pulley comprising a motor, a pulley driven by the motor, a belt connecting both said pulleys, means mounting the motor on the frame for endwise movement of the motor relative to the frame, and means connecting the motor mounting to the tiltable support to compel movement of the motor in unison with the tiltable support, whereby to maintain substantial alignment between the drive sides of the pulleys for all positions of the tiltable support, said connecting means between the motor mounting and the tiltable support comprising a parallel linkage mechanism having one link fixed to the frame, a link opposite the fixed link secured to the motor, side links, one side link extending beyond the said link opposite the fixed link, and a link connecting the extending end of said one side link to the tiltable support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,922,151 Boice et al. Aug. 15, 1933 2,590,035 Pollack Mar. 18, 1952 2,625,966 Copp Jan. 20, 1953 2,626,639 Hess Jan. 27, 1953 

